Former Congress minister Roshan Baig was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Sunday in connection to the Rs 4,000-crore IMA scam. The former Shivaji Nagar MLA has now been sent to 14-day judicial custody after being questioned by the CBI and after being produced before a special court in Bengaluru.

Baig is the first politician to be arrested in connection to the I-Monetary Advisory Ponzi scam. Baig is accused of helping prime accused Mohammed Mansoor Khan in the scam and trying to flee the country when the news of the scam broke.

The CBI raided Baig's residence, conducted search and seizure before taking him into custody.

Roshan Baig Arrested

IMA scam

Roshan Baig was named by IMA owner in the scam and accused of extorting money from him. In 2019, the SIT team tasked with the case, had detained Baig as he was trying to flee the country on a private charter plane.

So far, around 25 people have been arrested in connection with the case. The arrests include, former Assistant Commissioner of Bengaluru North Taluk LC Nagaraj and former village accountant Manjunath N and former Bengaluru Urban DC Vijay Shankar. Several IPS officers have also been named in the supplementary chargesheet.

During the investigation, it came to light that the petitioner had collected Rs 4,000 crore from more than 55,000 people by giving a false picture about the profits being made by IMA group of companies.

IMA scam busted

A discrepancy to the tune of Rs 1001.80 crore was pointed out between the signed financial statements and the actual books of accounts of IMA Group of Entities.

The Enforcement Directorate took over the investigation and charged Khan under sections 406, 409, 420, 120B of Indian Penal Code and section 9 of KPIDFE Act and section 3 of the Prevention of Money Laundering (PML) Act.